Our church runs the sound system from an iPad. Mostly Mike does it, but when he’s not there Pastor Geoff does. But yesterday, Eric ended up with it.
It was an unusual service, one our church calls “multi-voice.” Which basically means that multiple people share about a topic or give a testimony. And yesterday, we were sharing about gratitude. The multi-voice services are always great. People share real things, and we walk away blessed. The last one to share was Nathan, and he was sharing how God had led his family the last few years and provided all they need. His thesis: “Faith is the bridge to gratitude.”
So Nathan was speaking, and his story was totally worth hearing. And then Eric nudged me. When I looked, he pointed at the iPod on his lap. It was at 5% battery. Well, dang.
I whispered that I had a charger in the car, but we both knew it didn’t have a plug. And besides, we didn’t have an outlet anywhere near our seats. Dang again.
So Nathan kept talking. And Eric nudged me again. “Is the JumPack still in the van?” The Cobra JumPack is a fantastic little device that you charge at home and then keep in your car. And if your battery dies, this little thing has enough power to actually jump the battery instead of using another car. It saved me multiple times last year, and it was, in fact, still in the van.
He slid his keys from his pocket, and I slipped to the back of the church (and of course I wore my loudest-heeled boots, dang it) and out to the parking lot. I grabbed the charger and JumPack and slipped back to my seat. Eric plugged them in, and I went back to listening to Nathan. But it worked. Eric nudged me one more time. The battery was now at 6%. Then 9%. By the time Nathan finished, it was at 11%. Nice.
It was pretty neat really. A relatively small crisis averted. We had the necessary tools just waiting in the van for us. And even though we were still using every bit as much power as we had before, the number started going up instead of down.
God is like that, too, I think.
My crises are relatively small compared to, you know, world hunger and race relations and childhood cancer. But they’re big to me in that moment. I watch my reserves dwindle, and I can’t see how I’m going to make it. Left to myself, I won’t. But when I access all that He’s made available to me, an amazing thing happens. When I wait expectantly on Him, nothing exterior changes. While I look for Him to show up on my behalf, I still face the same situation I had a moment before. But now His power is at play. I am plugged in. And somehow, what I thought was a nearly empty well begins to fill up again. He doesn’t just keep me from depleting my reserves. He restores them. He pours abundantly into my need.
He is generous. But sometimes I have to be at 5% before I remember to plug back in.
